The present invention generally relates to a hand tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening and more particularly, relates to a hand tool that is equipped with a pair of rotatable balls mounted on a bottom surface of the tool for installing an O-ring into a slot opening on a semiconductor processing equipment.
Elastic sealing devices are frequently used in fabrication equipment when two adjoining surfaces are to be sealed together. The elastic sealing devices may be fabricated of a metal foil that is formed into V-shape with sufficient elasticity, or maybe a seal member of solid core formed of an elastic material. A suitable elastic material for forming the solid-core sealing device is an elastomer. One of such frequently used elastomeric sealing devices is a rubber O-ring for various sealing applications.
When the elastomeric O-ring is used as a sealing device, the O-ring should be fabricated of an elastomeric material that has sufficient elasticity and resiliency, i.e., compressive strength. The elastomeric material should have sufficient fatigue resistence such that the permanent set of the material after a long time usage is minimal and does not effect its sealing efficiency. Moreover, the elastomeric material used in fabricating the O-ring should have sufficient chemical resistence to frequently used gases and liquids of various chemical compositions, especially those that are of acidic or alkali nature.
An elastomeric O-ring, when used in sealing a planar surface, is frequently installed in a shallow slot opening provided in the planar surface. For instance, when the O-ring is fabricated in a circular cross-section, the slot opening may be provided in a rectangular cross-section for receiving the O-ring. The width of the rectangular cross-section of the slot opening is smaller than the outside diameter of the O-ring such that the O-ring may be pressed into the slot opening and securely spaced in the opening by frictional engagement. The task of installing an O-ring into a slot opening depends on several factors, i.e., the elasticity of the rubber material in the O-ring, the difference between the width of the slot opening and the outside diameter of the O-ring, the compressive modulars of the O-ring, etc. In certain applications, such as when the O-ring is used to seal around a metal target in a metal sputter chamber for processing semiconductor wafers, the O-ring may be formed of an elastomeric material that is sufficiently hard such that the installation of the O-ring into a slot opening surrounding the target can be a very difficult task. When attempts are made by pressing the O-ring into the slot opening by hand, not only a severe strain occurs in the hand, the O-ring may be installed not in a smooth manner but with kinks in the O-ring which affects its sealing efficiency.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening that does not have the drawbacks or shortcomings of the conventional method for installing the seal ring by hand.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening wherein the tool is readily available in a factory environment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening wherein the tool can be provided inexpensively.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening wherein the seal ring is placed in the slot opening in a smooth manner.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening which is constructed by a tool body, a cavity in a bottom surface of the tool body, and a pair of rotatable balls mounting in the cavity.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool for rolling an O-ring into a slot opening that is constructed by a hemi-spherical-shaped tool body equipped with a pair of round balls rotatably mounted in a bottom surface of the tool body.
In accordance with the present invention, a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening that can be easily operated by hand is provided.
In a preferred embodiment, a tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening is provided which includes a tool body that has an arcuate top surface adapted for gripping by human hand and a planar bottom surface; a cavity in the planar bottom surface adapted for receiving a pair of rotatable balls mounted juxtaposed to each other; and a pair of balls rotatable on a shaft through a center aperture of the balls mounted in the cavity in such a way that less than half of the spherical surface of the balls is protruding beyond the planner bottom surface of the tool body.
In the tool for installing a seal ring into a slot opening, the arcuate top surface may be a hemi-spherical surface. The tool may further include bearing means mounted in the aperture of the pair of balls for rotating on the shaft. The pair of balls each has a diameter that is within xc2x150% of a dimension of the seal ring. The tool body has a hemi-spherical shape with a diameter between about 3 cm and about 10 cm. The tool body may be fabricated of a material that has a rigidity of at least that of TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene), or fabricated of a material selected from the group consisting of TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene), ceramic and aluminum. The pair of balls are round, and may be fabricated of a material that has a lubricity of at least that of nylon, or may be fabricated of nylon or TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene). The shaft may be fabricated of a corrosion-proof material.
The present invention is further directed to a hand tool for rolling an O-ring into a slot opening that is constructed by a hemi-spherical-shaped tool body suitable for holding by a human hand, the hemi-spherical-shaped tool body has a planar bottom surface and a cavity in the planar bottom surface sufficiently large for receiving a pair of balls; and a pair of balls rotatably mounted juxtaposed to each other on a shaft through a center aperture provided in the pair of balls, the shaft may be mounted on two extreme ends in two opposing sidewalls of the cavity in the planar bottom surface in such a way that no more than half of the spherical surface of the pair of balls protrudes outside the cavity beyond the planar bottom surface.
In the hand tool for rolling an O-ring into a slot opening, the pair of balls are most likely round, and each has a diameter which is in within xc2x150% of a diameter of the O-ring. The tool may further include bearing means mounted in the aperture of the pair of balls for rotating on the shaft. The hemi-spherical-shaped tool body may have a diameter between about 3 cm and about 10 cm, and may be fabricated of a material that has a rigidity of at least that of TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene), or may be fabricated of a material selected from the group consisting of TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene), ceramic and aluminum. The pair of balls may be fabricated of a material that has a lubricity of at least that of nylon, i.e., or may be fabricated of nylon and TEFLON (polytetrafluoroethylene).